Secret Keepers
by LadyKF
Summary: Of all the people to trust his secret to, he wouldn't have chosen a Turk.


**A/N:** This was a birthday gift for the fantastic Traxits, based heavily off of her take on Reeve.

* * *

They'd been called out of bed in the middle of the night. A terrorist attack on the reactor in Sector Seven, interrupted by the security forces on hand. A nightmare in such a heavily populated area. They'd stopped any immediate problems, there was a bomb crew combing the area, but the techs had insisted on having Reeve take a look anyway.

He couldn't protest it, he knew the reactors in a way no one else did - and no one else _could,_ if he was being honest. Even if no one else knew the truth of the matter, it was enough that they knew he'd have a special hand with it, that they knew to call.

He hurried into the reactor, a step ahead of his Turk escort, already feeling a powerful sense of _wrong._ Something had happened. Something no one had caught yet. It was screaming at his senses _wrong wrong wrongwrongwrong -_

 _There._ He moved swiftly, just barely hearing Tseng as he came over to him, going to check the intake monitors. The machine was warm under his hands, the familiar rhythm pulsing through him until he was tapping his fingertips to it. Everything _looked_ fine.

It wasn't fine. He could _feel_ it wasn't fine.

"Sir?"

What was it? Why was there a gap between what he was seeing and what those extra senses he could never describe were telling him?

"Reeve?" Tseng touched his shoulder lightly, a hint of concern in familiar dark eyes.

"Something's wrong." He couldn't say what, didn't _know_ what. It felt like something cold and heavy in his gut, a chill under his skin that he couldn't shake. Whatever it was, it was bad.

"Your technicians gave an all clear moments before your arrival…" Tseng said, not an argument so much as a statement of facts; he trusted Reeve's instincts far too much to disagree.

"No, there's _something…_ " Reeve turned back to the monitors, bare hands splayed over the screen and the side panel. Thinking. _Feeling._

 _Like acid coming up from his gut… hot and thick and choking him… rising heat…_

 _Rising…_

Mako levels. The _mako levels_ were rising.

Swearing under his breath, he dug into the toolbag he'd brought and set about getting the panel off the monitor. He needed to see… _there._ It had been rewired. The feed was coming in from somewhere else, maybe being mirrored from another reactor, he'd never seen the device that was wired in among his work. His lip curled into a silent snarl and he grit his teeth, quickly undoing the mess and handing the device back to Tseng before quickly getting things reconnected where they _should be._ It wasn't nearly as time consuming as it could have been, small miracles.

He snapped the casing back into place, looking at the monitor and feeling himself go pale as the alarms immediately started to sound.

"We've got to get out of here," Tseng said immediately. He didn't know the details, this was nowhere near his expertise, but he'd followed Reeve on inspections enough to pick up some things. "Reeve-"

"No." If they left now, there would be a meltdown. With the mako levels unchecked, the level of heat in the core was going to stress the system far too much. "I can fix this."

"Reeve, you said by the time these alarms go off -" Tseng began, reaching for his shoulder.

"No, I can _fix_ this." He had to. Sector Seven… there were too many people, even this late. _Especially_ this late, there was no evacuation possible for this. Not in time, people would _die -_ he had to do _something_.

Only Tseng wasn't exactly wrong; if this had happened and he wasn't there, he'd have told everyone to _run._ There was nothing they could do this far along. But… _he could._

Blessing and a curse, that _gift._ He could do something. He could fix this. He could save people that logic said he shouldn't be able to.

In front of one of the most observant people he'd ever known.

He swallowed against the ache in his throat, feeling the strain the reactor was under like a pain in his chest. There was no time to wait, no time for another solution. "Get everyone out of here."

"You can't expect me to leave you here," Tseng protested, voice tight with rare emotion.

"Have the others do it, just… get them out of here." He needed to focus, without the energy of so many anxious people bumping up against his own. " _Please."_

Tseng was silent a moment, then he was calling for Reno. It was enough. Reeve closed his eyes and _focused._

The power of the reactor was thrumming through him with the rhythm of the city it breathed life into, beginning to go unsteady as the mako rise threatened the reactor's core.

 _Shh. Settle down, you're alright._

People faded from his awareness. The alarms were a distant sound. Everything else faded away as he lost himself in those extra senses that had long since made the reactors _his._

 _Calm down, we're okay. I'm here. I know they messed with things, but you're okay now. Let me fix it._

The rhythm stumbled, and he spread his hands over the metal paneling, whispering quieter than a breath, _Let me fix this._

A beat.

Two.

There was a hitch, and then it leveled out. The reactor gave way to his will, and when he slit his eyes open he saw the levels were back into the higher end of the safe zone. He heaved a sigh, relieved, and wiped sweat-damp hair off his forehead.

"Reeve?"

Tension was back immediately, and he didn't look at Tseng right away. What could he even say? "Tseng."

There was a long moment of silence, even after he dragged his composure back together and faced him. Tseng was watching him, brows knit together in a small frown.

What had it looked like, from the outside? Reeve had no idea. No one had ever seen to tell him, until now.

"Is there a problem?" He heard himself ask.

"Yes." If Tseng knew how his heart lurched at that single word, he didn't show it. "You seem rather ill. It must be the stress."

Reeve arched a brow, scarcely daring to breathe. "That… _was_ very stressful."

"Understandable. You worked very hard to get things back on track." A tiny smile quirked the corner of his lips. "Not that I understood the technicalities. I'm afraid there were no technicians here to explain."

"No…" Was he…

"I'm afraid I'll just have to read your report later," Tseng said evenly. "Before I can give mine."

 _Oh thank the gods._

"I… see." Reeve nodded, feeling faint with relief. "I'll get that to you-"

"Tomorrow," Tseng suggested. "Or the day after. You're not looking well. A day off might be wise."

"Of course," he agreed breathlessly. "…thank you."

Tseng arched a brow, warning in his eyes despite his smile. "I didn't do anything. Now, let's see you home."


End file.
